After making those Black Bottom Coconut Bars, I began to wonder to myself about the multitudes of Brownies out there and soon decided to begin a search for all those beautiful variations that are sure to please. And as if pre-destined I picked up a package my mother sent which included a cookbook called Blissful Brownies! I’m itching to try out all of the different squares and am so sorry that we have no nearby family to share the joy and bliss of Brownies with us! I guess we’ll just have to figure out some way to slowly devour the pans and pans of Brownies that will be exiting my oven over the next few months. Sigh.
PS: Thanks a ton mom! This is such a fun cookbook and I’m glad you didn’t keep it for yourself!
Last night, the Elders joined us for our evening meal. For desert I had made Black Bottom Coconut Bars and I must include my amusing story. They were cooling on the rack still in the foil when in a rush to make room for the main course plans, I knocked them off the counter and onto one of the stools. Yikes! There was plenty of coconut on the chair and on the floor and none too much left on the delightful desert. However, they were still delicious. The brownie bottom has a bit of a bitter taste and I am tempted to add more sugar in the next round, but the coconut bar part puffed up nicely and it was all in all a yummy desert especially since I’m quite fond of coconut. Which brings me to another story that include Brownies and Coconut! Ha, who knew this desert would stir so many memories. Once when I was at a Brownies camp with the theme of “Hawaiian Luau,” all us girls were passing a coconut around the circle so we could take a whiff of the coconut milk even though it was sour (don’t ask, I don’t know). The leader was quick to tell us not to spill the milk on ourselves and just out of sheer luck and cruel irony I spilt the dang milk on myself and cried from embarrassment. Thank goodness my Mother was there (that’s a whole other story!). So there we go, Brownies and Coconut in more than one context.
Recently I’ve been trying to mix up my choice of books between timeless classics and more modern tales and last night, I finally finished the well beloved American novel and Pulitzer Prize winning Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell. For just over one week, I was immersed in every possible way as I analyzed the past events trying to predict the future events, picking apart characters doing my best to discover what moves them and of course, trying to figure out what love is lust and what lust is love. This book just might have become a new favourite and I intend to get my hands on a beautiful hardcover copy at some point in my life and you can bet I requested the dvd from the library! What a book! I was not expecting the ending because I always heard of Scarlett and Rhett being referred to as the classic American love story and the timeless couple so naturally I was shocked when things turned out the way they did. Yes, shocked and heartbroken! If I ever have a daughter, I will insist that she reads that book, although if she’s anything like me, she’ll be starving for a good read! This book holds so many lessons about love and life that are timeless and so relatable! I can see myself becoming quite the Gone With The Wind fan at the very least although a fanatic is much more likely.
I hate to sound like such a book worm, but that’s what I am through and through and I always will be. With a mother that read the Little House on the Prairie series and Jenny (a truly gorgeous book, one of the few possessions that my Granny brought from S. Africa) to me, I was naturally inclined to gain a to-the-bone love for literature. As I child, I was alotted a half hour to an hour of quiet reading time before bed and I loved it! When I High School came, I found myself much too academically and socially involved not to mention every second semester busy with sports. I can’t even say how grateful I am to now have the time to satisfy my cravings for good books and read until I’m sick of reading and then read some more! What a blessing! I’ve decided that I need to begin a list of books I would like to own in the future (I have dreams of shelves and shelves of beautiful books) like Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Les Miserables and Beauty. Oh to be a Dreamer!
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I drink powdered milk. I use it for baking, occasionally on cereal and every once in a while when I get a hankering for cookies and milk. It grosses Conor out and sometimes it grosses me (rarely though) out because I do know what real milk tastes like and there is a very small difference between the “good stuff” and powdered milk. But lo, I can’t drink real cow’s milk because it makes me sick! And so I resort to that which doesn’t make me sick and I’m fine with it. It’s nothing like the warm, foamy milk my mother made us children drink back in the day. Nope, not a thing like that because I make mine the night before and allow it to chill and de-foam in the refrigerator. Plus I despise buying milk because it’s such a load to carry and awkward at that, so not only am I saving money but I’m also saving myself some discomfort!
Am I the only one that drinks powdered milk? Or are there others? Or is there something else that you’ve substituted in your pantry or fridge?
Warning: This is going to be a bit of a cheeky post. Read at your own risk!
Happy Presidents’ Day everyone (and Family Day to those in Canada)! On the radio the other day one of the VJs said that nothing celebrates Presidents’ Day like a good sell. Ever since the summer time, I’ve noticed a slight accent down here in the states that is occasionally endearing depending on the speaker and it’s common throughout a couple states I believe, or maybe just Utah. For example, when talking door-to-door sales a phrase often heard was, “And that’s how you get a sell!” For the longest time I thought that the grammar was way out to lunch before realizing that that is just how the speaker was pronouncing sale. It cracked me up! Any word like that is often turned to an “e.” On another accental note, we’ve also got a word like feel that turns into fill and the vowel provides an almost 2 syllabells sound. And there’s always the letter Z that no longer is a Zed, but a Zee in this country. It’s such a subtly distinct way of speaking and I was in no way expecting to find such a difference.
Back to the Presidents, I would first like to say that I don’t know much and I’m sure I hold a biased view, however I would like to state that I would not like to be a President of the USA especially since there doesn’t seem to be many Presidents that are loved. On the radio I also heard of a recent pole where 61% of those polled agreed that there should be a place to check on the ballot, “None of the Above.” Way to exercise the right to vote. I would hate to have been Hoover – what a bit of bad luck he had to be President during the Great Depression! How idolized are the founding fathers and JFK, but that’s about all that come to mind when I think of happily ruling presidents (who am I kidding, JFK and I believe a portion of the founding fathers were assassinated, so happiness?). Then again, like heck I would want to be Prime Minister of Canada, although we have had a string of … liberal idiots that unbalanced the books by $42 billion in no one’s favour (except maybe Quebec and let me tell you if it weren’t for the fact that we need that province to be apart of the country – for economical reasons – I’d be begging them to git although perhaps one day it’ll all even out since the Federal Government wouldn’t be dishing them money anymore). Things aren’t looking too shabby with Harper (a conservative) lowering GST to 6% and now to 5%. But then again that’s the end of my perspective on him since I feel so severed from my beloved country. Still, I feel as though Alberta is begging me to return to it’s glorious mountains and waving prairies!
If I am wrong in any way and need correction, please comment. Also feel free to let loose about your political pet peeves.
